I had this done by Dr. Dubois in France a few years ago but it is coming back. I would love to go back to France but you mentioned Florida. Is it a Dr. in Florida that does NA? If anyone knows of one please e-mail me.

As a physician who works with his hands, and has early Dupuytren's, I find this forum quite interesting. Clearly, short term NA results look good and complications must be low because the French report it as such, and there are very few complaints on this thread devoted to the topic "Has NA ever gone wrong."

However, it seems nearly impossible to glean the long-term results. It appears that people get excited after their procedures and write in, and then don't come back later to report. I think it's important that we encourage people treated >1 year ago to write in with their good and bad stories. It is especially important to report the bad ones since people seem hesitant to do so. We know recurrences are happening, let's hear about them. All information is good. You're not being a spoil sport, you're helping the rest of us.

Curious, why does nobody write in about the collagenase treatments? Their results looked good too. I know its not available at this time, but Phase III trials may begin in the fall, and if the FDA approves it, it could go on the market and become used widespread. I think hand surgeons like that idea better than NA, for reasons I don't understand. I think it's important for us Dupys to help drum up support for this, because the only thing stopping it is the huge money needed from investors for the small company making the cordase to get it pushed through the FDA. Investors invest when they think there is interest out there, and I think we should show interest and talk it up as much as possible with our hand surgeons, so when the surveys are taken of the surgeons (the target market for the drug companies), they will get positive feedback and make the crucial decision to put in the money and move forward. That's how it works in the Drug/Medical industry. If the cordase thing dies for lack of enthusiasm/money, I may have to cry for a couple days. I like the idea of 2 possible alternatives to conventional surgery, not just one.

Chad:

Dr. Eaton, who is now the US expert on NA, explains his fellow surgeon's resistance to NA this way: "Unaware of the benefits of NA". In other words: Ignorance. I'm guessing they are not ignorant about Collagenase treatments because BioS has done some early marketing to drum up support. However, even when presented with the same evidence which now has convinced you, I suspect most surgeons will continue to ignore NA as a viable option. This is what really makes no sense to me. Maybe it's because you, as a patient, are more motivated to *avoid* surgery than the surgeons are to *stop* doing what they've been trained to do. Maybe it's all just matter of what side of the knife you're on.

Hi Olly,

Wow - that 's a bummer. Can you give us more info...like


1)Who told you about the NA practioner that you saw? Was the doctor who performed NA trained by the Paris group? This is important because there are surgeons in Canada and the US who say they are performing NA - but in actual fact - they have not had any training specifially in NA. Is it possible that this is your situation? 2) Your age
3)Age of onset 4)Family history - is it severe in other members?

Thanks for considering answering these questions. It helps all of us to understand it when a severe case like yours pops up.


God Bless,

Frances

I have a severe case and long family history I have had 5 operations on one hand and my other is arched enough to cause pain by being out of wack. I also have it in one foot. I went to see a new doctor who was familar with N/A, collangese and surgery. He said N/A had been around for 200 years and the cause was diseased tissue and N/A was not going to cure that. I mentioned the injections and he said he was good friends with the Stonybrook guys and would get me into the trials. I am anxiously looking forward to that and will let you know what happens. I think the injections are the best hope for the long term. Hopefully it will work for me. While I am there they can do my foot also as the know in it is the size of a marbal.